Content Writing

January 3, 2017

There is a lot of potential in content marketing. It is one of the best methods of marketing to come out of the internet age. However, done poorly or half-heartedly, it can result in a lot of frustration. Here are three signs that your content marketing strategy is in need of a rework.

Traffic issues

It is one thing to have the best content in the world; it is quite another getting people to find it. The first step is to follow basic SEO. The second is to gain an understanding of what channels work for promotion in that industry. Think like an end-user looking for this content, and then promote it on those channels.

User interface

A website that shows the exact same material and page layout to every visitor will not inspire brand loyalty. A survey found that sites that personalize web content saw an increase in conversion as high as 19%. Sites need to personalize content and recommendations to the individual user. Personalization can take many forms, but most often the changes are based on location, the device, time of day and previous visits.

Subscriber numbers dropping

One common mistake made by marketers is self-promotion. The content should be mostly educational and of practical use to the visitor. It should only be slightly promotional. It should address their concerns and provide solutions related to your products and services.

October 21, 2016

Targeting long-tail keywords is not new. However, it has seen a recent resurgence in the SEO marketing community. The long-tail keywords referred to here are keyword phrases that have three or more keywords. “black leather wallets” is a good example of a search phrase. Now established sites find that the conversion rates from content that is tailored for the long-tail are much higher than the average. Here is a step-by-step guide to creating content for the long-tail:

Step one – Identify the keywords that are relevant to your websites. Now enter those keywords into a keyword research tool like Google’s Keyword Planner or Moz’s Keyword Explorer. These tools will give you a list of related keywords.

Step two – From this list, look for the long-tail keywords that directly apply to your site, your products or your content. Now rank them and look for low-volume, low-difficulty keyword phrases. On Moz, that would be keywords that have a difficulty rating of less than 30.

Step three – Write content for the long tail keyword that was identified in step two. Use the keyword in the headline and any subheadings. The content will need to be directly relevant to the long-tail keyword.

Step four – Hit the publish button and track the performance of that page over time. Do not be hasty to see results. Give the page at least a month for the page to appear and hold a stable position. The ease of ranking will vary based on your site domain. The older the domain and higher the domain authority the faster it will rank.

March 18, 2015

When website visitors share your content, this can lead to more views and this, in turn, can lead to engagement too.

And which is why you should think about making sharing your blog posts all that more easier, if necessary.

That said, here are 4 ways by which you can do this easily:

#1: Make Image Sharing Easier

You can encourage your visitors to share images, that are usually the most popular type of content shared. One way to do is by using SumoMe that allows one to put social sharing icons on themselves. One can see the options available by hovering over the image.

#2: Add Meta Data

Add metadata to your blog and which will make sharing your content easier as these meta details will ensure that your post is shared in the best possible way. If you’re not sure how to do this, use this tool called Know.em that will check if the pages on your site is optimized for social media or not.

#3: Share your content via Twitter

ClickToTweet is a simple apps that allows your readers to share your content on Twitter. All you have to do is sign in, authorize the app and create a tweet with the article link. Now add the ClickToTweet link to the post. Also, others who like your post can share it with their network with a pre-populated tweet.

#4: Write compelling titles

The number of shares you get depends greatly on the type of titles your write. For this, there are a few tools that can help you do so such as Emotional Headline Analyzer, BuzzSumo and Social Warfare Analyzer. Also, when your content is shared, the first thing that other readers will notice is the title, so ensure it is compelling enough.

April 20, 2012

Writing good advertising emails is not necessarily common knowledge. It is for this reason that a lot of mail is now considered spam as it does not interest the reader in way whatsoever. So, according to experts, successful email advertising means writing the best copy possible.

So, here are 3 tips that you can pick up that can help you creating good advertising emails:

#1: The Subject Line matters

The first that any recipient will read is the subject line, and depending on which, they’ll either open it and read or just send it to trash. One of the biggest mistakes in email advertising is not to include a subject line. More so, make the subject line interesting enough for the recipient to want to read.

#2: Address each recipient individually

If you refer the recipient by his name, the email he or she receives won’t feel like spam. On the other hand, a generic greeting common to all recipients won’t impress, and will more likely than not, end up being trashed as well.

#3: Convey your message clearly and by using as less jargon as possible

Jargon is probably one of the biggest put-offs and especially shouldn’t find a place in email advertising at all. However, if you do need to use jargon then it will be advisable to minimize it as much as possible. Also, ensure that you stay on point if you want to convey a message to each of your customers. Rambling on and on will cause them to close the email before reading it completely.

April 12, 2012

If you think content writing is more or less a stream-of-consciousness rant, then think again. In fact, it’s just the opposite – no matter whatever type of writing you produce, there has always been a process that professional writers tend to use.

So, here are 5 steps of the Writing Process that you can use:

#1: Prewriting

While some writers are caught staring blankly at their computer screen, others begin to work on building the story idea such as what angle they could take or even the sub-topics they could include in the article before writing the article itself.

#2: Writing

With the structure and direction of the writing planned in the previous stage, this one includes writing (or fleshing) it out. It is advisable that the matters like word count, spelling, grammar and punctuation should not be worried about in this stage.

#3: Revising

This part is about making changes to the writing by removing, adding, replacing or rearranging information that might make a difference to the writing itself, and how it is perceived by the readers themselves. Every writer MUST work on this step, no matter how talented they are.

#4: Editing

This step involves checking the sentences you’ve constructed or the words that have been used in the writing, and whether or not, it contributes to the piece or takes the attention away from it. Clarity of thought, flawless spelling, punctuation and grammar as well as the lack of repetition of words are some ways by which you can edit your writing work for better understand overall.

#5: Publishing

This could mean different things to different people. While bloggers need to add a post, students need to produce a final copy of that essay on paper to their teachers. Journalists have to submit their finished piece to editors.

April 3, 2012

No, this is not just for writers but for those who communicate using the written word as well, using the mediums of text messages, instant messaging and email. In that sense, we’re all writers.

So, here are 5 timeless content writing tips from masters of the written word:

#1: Write all the time

The only way that anyone can get better with writing (or communicating) is by writing continuously rather than sporadically, and from time to time. Great writers claim that writers who can’t wait to write when they have a free minute are actual writers.

#2: Keep it simple

It’s easier to write with complexity rather than to write with simplicity. Writing is anything but long and drawn out. Yet when you are able to communicate your thoughts in the simplest way possible, the effectiveness of your writing becomes evident – through your readers.

#3: Thrive on Criticism

Your readers are the ones who will either tell you whether you are writing well or aren’t. And it is a good thing that some of the best writer didn’t trust the praise but actually made the most of heckling that comes with this profession.

#4: Cut the boring parts out

Your goals when writing anything should be to get the reader’s attention. Usually with the short attention span over the internet, it becomes important that what you are publishing is of use or interesting or both. So remove anything from the write up that feels boring, and which people would skip.

#5: Eliminate unnecessary words

Words like extremely, really, actually and very are not the wisest words that you can add in a write up. It doesn’t do anything but get in the way of expressing your thought clearly.